Christchurch Brand Design, Logo Design, Corporate Identity, Brand Development, Marketing & Strategy - Delineate Brandhouse

A brand cannot be a one stop shop

delineate — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:20:37 +0000

Three words that, as a branding company makes us shudder, ‘one-stopshop’. Think of the brands you know, do they try to be everything to everyone? Even Coke has it’s spin off products, which stand on their. They’ve made their brands successful through focus and not through becoming everything to everyone.

As a small business it’s tempting to provide everything for everyone, but in reality any strong brand has to stand for something. But by standing for something, it also means you don’t stand for other things, and this is where the fear sets in for most business owners. The fear of saying ‘no’.

What really does happen when you say ‘no’ in business? The loss of a sale? If you say yes to a customer request, but the product you’re selling is not what you really do, know or understand well enough what has that item really cost? The customer already has a price expectation, so you can’t charge more, particularly because you don’t add any value to charge more than the competition. Then there is the extra time you take to order the item, check that it’s the right item to fit the customers requirements. What else could you have achieved with the time it’s taken you to make this sale? If you had a focus you would have gotten a step closer to your intended goal, without this sidetrack. You could have invested more time in your core customers, and made their experience better.

The truth is, not everyone will need, or see value, in your business. But that’s okay. What really matters are the people who do buy from you. If you identify that these people can provide a sustainable business income, why not get more of these raving fans, than try to convert the nonconvertible? This is how you build a brand.

Then take a step back and see what parts of your business are loved by customers, and what people would pick up your product with a blank look. Regard both these groups and see what makes them tick, that way you’ll have the basis of focus for your business, and please, stop trying to convince the ‘blank faced ones’ that they need your product. They don’t, not today. But if they know what your business brand stands for, because they only have one thing to remember, they’ll notice it when they do have a need you can fill.

Branding is the way marketing used to be

delineate — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:41:45 +0000

In the 1960’s, the four P’s of Marketing (product, price, place, and promotion) were a coined. This was a time when the marketing professional sat at the level of the company hierarchy with the people that made the business decisions and the direction of the business was directly interweaved with the marketing direction. Since then business structure has changed exponentially, as has the world within which we conduct our business. Marketing has been levered out of it’s seat at the decision making table and the accountants department has secured the position and the role has become one of doing the best one can with a dictated budget and a restrictive brief.
Additionally, three of the P’s today are closer associated with the business strategy and not marketing at all, for without a product, price, and way of distributing (place) you wouldn’t have a business. Leaving the last P, promotion, as the only tool the marketer has left – as long as they stay within budget that is.
Branding is the way marketing used to be. Branding is all about strategy and building a business with a brand. It cannot work in the position of the company that the marketer sits, because you cannot build a successful brand based on budgets and promotional decisions. A brand works from the top down and forms the foundations of the business because you cannot say one thing and do something different and expect to create a brand.

Don’t expect a marketer in the 2010’s to provide you with a brand plan while operating from their position out on a branch of your company, or to turn your sales around by creating a trusted brand, while you drip feed them the values and goals of your business. They will do their best, with the limited tools you give them, to say what you do, but if you don’t do what they say you do, maybe marketing should be the first budget you cut. But if you want work on business development that will in turn create a better return for your marketing, take a long hard look at your business through branding eyes, and don’t confuse the marketers of decades past, and their results, with the marketers of today and wonder why they just don’t work like they used to.

Why brand manuals should be mandatory for small businesss

delineate — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:25:27 +0000

The ‘big guys’ have them – 2 inches high sometimes, bound and sent whenever their logo is sent for a new advertising medium. I’m talking about brand manuals. For anyone who has worked for a large company, you’ll no doubt be familiar with these bibles of dos and do nots. They demonstrate what you are not allowed to do – stretch your logo, change the background colour, how much space it needs around it – to ensure the brand remains consistent. It also talks about the ‘brand story’, this is the background information of the business, what it stands for, what it means to it’s consumers, often written like it is a living, breathing person.
These large companies have invested thousands creating, and millions building their brand and as the logo will be used by so many people in their company, everyone needs a clear understanding of how it must not be tampered with. But how does this relate to the small business, where the number of staff can fit in one telephone box, and you can simply check over someone’s shoulder to make sure the logo is not being abused? A small business needs consistency in presentation even more than the big companies!
So you’re trying to grow your business, and every cent you spend promoting your business must be deliberate and thought out. You go to your signwriter, and they take your logo (in whatever type of file format you can dig up) and sign write your car with their interpretation of what your business should look like. Now you create a website, and again send your logo to the web developer, and they in turn present your company to the electronic world in their best interpretation of your business. You’ve now booked some space in the local newspaper. They offer to design your advert for free, and so again you send your logo to them, tell them what you want the advertisement to say and their design wizzes create an advert for you with the information you’ve provided.
Now, take your advert, your website and your car and put them side by side and ask yourself (honestly now):
1) Does each of these say exactly the same thing?
2) Do they look exactly the same?
3) Does the colour look exactly the same from one to the other?
4) Hmm, why does my logo look blurry blown up on the side of my car?

Each of these businesses have done a great job presenting your business, the only problem is you’ve told them a slightly different message about your business (we all get bored saying the same thing over and over, even if it is the first time they have heard it), and they’ve done the best job the can with the information you’ve given them.
Imagine now if you’d given each of these design companies exactly the same message. Say a book which dictated the exact colours they should use for your logo in the medium the use (pixels on a screen, 3M adhesive, ink on newsprint), that told a story of your business, and displayed previous work that’s been done to match it to.
What that would give you, who is so careful about spending marketing money, is strength in repetition. That when your consumer sees your business for the first time they don’t take too much notice, but then again they see your car, and exactly the same look, then find your website when they have a problem that your business can provide the solution for. Before long the accumulation of the exact same presentation of your company builds memorability, and with it report and recognition of your services.
The electronic file age has brought with it a new language, and so also in the design industry, as we talk about dpi, jpeg, eps, bitmap, cmyk, process, rgb, spot, pms and so on, unless you’re dealing with these file types and settings daily the average business should not be expected to know what’s what. This is why you also need an electronic brand package somewhere, with these listed and easy for you to grab and send off, without the need to know what they mean.
Finally, as the business owner, and the one closest to your branding, you see your logo day in, day out and can be the worst offender for “ahh, let’s mix it up a little, I’m bored with how it looks”, a brand manual can remind you as to why you present your business in the way you do, and remind you of the importance to not change it around just because you are bored. How do you think Richard Branson feels about his Virgin brand? He’s had decades of staring at that red scrawly text, but has the discipline to leave it intact, and remembers that it’s about what his consumers think of it, not whether he’s ‘over’ a red logo.
I suggest if you’ve not got a manual in place, have a read of your business plan, to remind yourself why you’re in business, then it down with your designer and start putting one together, for the time it takes to do this, it will be an investment and adding value each time you spend money on advertising.

Branding vs advertising vs marketing

delineate — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:20:46 +0000

Often we’re asked what the difference is between branding, marketing, advertising and PR.

Firstly, the key point about branding is focus. A focused business is a focused brand. Essentially if you say what you do, then do what you say, you’ll have the best chance of building a valuable brand.

That’s it, all there is too it!

OK, maybe there is a little more involved, in particular how do you know what it is you need to say? This is often really hard if you are in the business and therefore too close to provide some clarity. After all it’s really about what your customer thinks, and needs. So let’s get back to the key question by sounding out what these areas of business promotion are.

Advertising
Has been around for centuries, and will always have a place in our society. Advertising is the act of telling people what you do, and why they need your product and service.

Marketing
Using all the forms of communication, including advertising, direct marketing, websites, networking etc. A marketer will provide a mix of promotional mediums that they see will work best to get you message across, and to whom.

Branding
This is the core message that your business owns. It is what your business is seen to ‘do’, the focus for that business. This is the one area where it is of utmost importance for all of the parties involved to have a strong understanding of what their business is. If the business owner knows this, it then ensures that if you advertise or market, every contact gives the same message.

Unfortunately the horse gets put before the cart, and the branding focus is overlooked and businesses jump straight into the advertising trap. Then the website gives a slightly different message, as does the way the employee treats the customer, until all these touch points are so out of whack that the core focus is lost on the customer. The advertising campaign then loses much of its power through dilution from these other communication methods.

Ironically this is what’s happened with the meaning of branding. Through misuse and inconsistency the word ‘branding’ has so many perceived meanings that the core meaning, and therefore the benefits it can have for businesses, is lost.

We are told ‘branding’ means – a logo; a group of products; an advertising campaign; a graphic design that respects the ‘rules’ of the logo.

What branding should really do is give the power back to the owners, to make better advertising decisions, a streamlined message for all avenues of marketing and advertising, and direction within their business as to what they want it to be in the future (I think they call these ‘goals’). This brand reminder also stops businesses from getting off track and forgetting what it is they are in business for, and what the do that’s different to their competition, making them a better consumer choice.

No magic wand – Lucky for you!

delineate — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:33:05 +0000

Building trust with your customers is about a lot of small things. It’s not about designing a great looking logo, a fancy business card and a super website, though these ‘touch points’ do create an impression, but it’s about creating a consistent experience from the first time someone hears about your business to when they do business with you. This rule is regardless of the size of your business. You don’t need to spend a lot to have a professional brand experience with your business.

A simple 55mm x 90mm piece of cardboard can leave an impression, but what impression is yours giving? A ‘fancy’ business card can create a great impression, but how much have you thought firstly about the message of that card? Below are some points, and the impression these points give about your business, whether you realise it or not:

Your card is laser printed (ie toner) = It looks temporary. You’re not serious about staying in business;
You have a @gmail, @ hotmail, @ yahoo email address = You’re not a ‘real’ business;
You have a @’service provider’ address = Better, but your still not serious about your business;
You’ve crossed your phone number out and added a new one = You can’t afford to print new ones;
Your logo is pixelated (distorted, or grainy) because you downloaded it off your website = You’re not worried about the finer details.

Take a look at your website, does it look like:

It has been created with a Microsoft Publishing program = You have an ‘it’ll do’ approach to business. Hey, you’ve got a website haven’t you?
You wrote the copy yourself = See above
You have a .net.nz or .org address = Someone got in first with the .co.nz or .com and so you accept second best

The good news!

The good news is that in order to grow the worth of your business brand, you don’t need to throw an unmeasurable (and unmanageable) amount of money at a designer, advertising agency or marketer. The branding starts with you, the business owner or manager. For example, a domain name costs next to nothing to register (NZ$30 per year!), and there are fantastic business packages out there for email hosting (even free ones, that are more reliable than the ones you pay monthly subscriptions for). You don’t need a website to set this up.

Your website – ask yourself why you have a website, and what you wish to get out of it. Simply ‘because it’s what everyone else does’ is not good enough. A poorly designed, laid out or website with weak content can do more harm to your brand than no website.

If your reasons for the above is you simply don’t know where to go, or where to start, talk to your designer, they should know, and expect that you don’t know where to find out how to get a cheap, but professionally designed and printed business card, how to set up an economical email address for you, or how to, and whether to set up a valuable website for your business.

It is the simple things, those things that you may not be able to put your finger on, but you just know something is wrong with the design, that can turn business away from your company. But, luckily, it’s these things that cost little to remedy.

If you can say ‘that’s us’ to any of the above points, or simply want an expert eye to assess the message your business branding is really giving, please contact us.

Trimming the waistline, or trimming the wallet?

delineate — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:47:43 +0000

Here’s an interesting thought for anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight – and failed.

When we make a decision to lose a few pounds, what do we do? Hire a trainer, join a gym, sign up to a weight loss program? Our judgment is so clouded by the pain our weight increase has given us that we’re about to do, and pay anything to make it go away. Then after a few weeks (if we last that long), our resolve fades, we’re not ’so bad’ now and anyway who cares if your a tad cuddly, your partner likes you that way anyway… It’s not the diet that didn’t work (it’s a proven method), nor is it the trainers fault (after all you can only flog a dead horse for so long), it’s just that continuing in ‘diet mode’ just is not conducive to your lifestyle, and it’s hard work and sometimes soul destroying.

This approach to dieting is much like the advertising campaign. The methodology works, in fact you do have an increased awareness of your business, and even increase in turnover, but it’s not something you can afford to keep up with, both financially, and timewise. It just doesn’t suit your business to do it for life!

Now imagine if you start changing little things in your diet – a few hours exercise a week, swapping sodas for waters, then cutting out the absurd amount of butter you usually apply. What happens? Though you don’t see instant results you see people start to notice you. They comment on how great you look, you find you need a smaller pair of pants. Sure it didn’t happen overnight, and you haven’t been astounded by the change in your appearance, but the key thing is others start to notice. What’s more your wallet hasn’t taken a big hit. In fact it will probably be saving you money, what with spending less on soda, butter and the rest of what you used to consider a necessity.

That’s right, now we’re talking about branding. Figuring out what it is you want, and then taking small, achievable steps to get there. Not painful, not scary and not involving a large time committment. Just small changes, heading towards the big goal of more business. You may not notice the change but I can assure you, others will.

Who says a brand is not just a logo?

delineate — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:31:13 +0000

I’ll tell you who says – the graphic design industry!

I’ve seen dozens of designers websites who’s opening line is ‘branding is not just a logo’. OK, they are right, but the part that gets me is that they offer logo design services, and the whole package, how to use your logo, logo brand book demonstrating how not to use your logo. They can use it on a brochure, an ad campaign or even the side of your car. You can even ‘brand’ your pens, complimentary mints and work shirts – but they can’t build your brand.

The thing with a brand, is all of these elements of the presentation of your logo can be designed and maintained, but without impacting on your brand (that is, your business) at all. This part lies with you!

You can pay designers to create a visual impresion of your business, and you should, but without them a) knowing what your business really stands for, and b) watching over your shoulder every minute of the day to make sure you fulfill the promises your new logo touts, you still really just have a logo.

When you work with your designer, you should already have a strong understanding of just why your customers fall in love with you (or, buy from you, if this is too big a claim), so you can create an image to get more. Without imparting this knowledge to them, they can really only take you at your word as to what you do, then create this as a visual representation to create your logo, and it’s up to you to live up to this expectation.

The designer creates the logo, you build the brand.

Are you a ‘me too’ as well?

delineate — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:18:17 +0000

Nokia has released it’s ‘answer’ to the iPhone I read today. Blackberry already released theirs. They look like an iPhone, they act like an iPhone with it’s touch screen capabilities, they’re also priced like an iPhone. But they’re not an iPhone. So why would I not just buy an iPhone?

Nokia cemented their place in the cellphone market with their range of easy to use phones. Blackberry cornered the market in portable communications, particularly email, with their QWERY ‘keyboards’. Sure iPhone has come come along and created a new wave of phone devices, but both Nokia and Blackberry do have a few choices, and I believe they made the wrong one. These are:

Stay the way they are (ie bury their heads in the sand)
Follow the leader (ie the ‘me too’ approach)
Innovate (know what their brand stands for and be the first to do the next thing)

Unfortunately, both companies are going down the second path, that of ‘me too’. I’m sure it’s not a good thing to not be keeping up with the play, but would it not be better instead to be the leader in your speciality?

Palm were known for their touch screen interface for many years, but now are bullied out of the market because they fail to innovate, and grow their product. In fact iPhone has pretty much taken over where their brand sits in the minds of the consumers.

What if Blackberry spent their development money doing what they do, but new and better? I see people directly comparing the Blackberry with the iPhone weighing up the distinct differences and benefits between them both. Now that Blackberry has their version of an iPhone, instead of making them a more viable option, they’re handing the sales to iPhone – see my opening comment.

Apple have done just that – all the sexyness, style, ease of use core values typical of Apple – no wonder the iPhone is so uniquely Apple. I wonder what delightful innovation both Blackberry and Nokia could conjur up if they focussed on their core values and uniqueness, instead of focussing on what the market is doing now.…

Now look at your own business, are you so focussed on what your competiton is doing that you’ve forgotten what makes you ‘You’ in the first place? I imagine it’s more than just the widget that you produce.